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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: march · rush · pop · drill · toast · cold · wound · key

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. You don't need to ________________ round.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. This piece is in a major ________________.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. key — the most important part
  4. drill — the tool
  5. drill — army training
  6. wound — an injury
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. toast — bread
  10. rush — hurry
  11. wound — an injury
  12. march — music
  13. march — the month
  14. pop — soda
  15. toast — a drink to someone
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. pop — music
  18. pop — to visit
  19. march — the month
  20. drill — a practice
  21. key — in music
  22. cold — an illness
  23. key — for a lock
  24. toast — the most admired

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com